It's Stu, Not Stew

You see, because it doesn't stew. There's no stewing. Kai pointed this out to me.

This recipe comes with a story. Hannah, I haven't got any pictures of it in the current incarnation. The next time I make it (soon I hope), I will take some. I'm posting it right away because it's exciting.


Two years ago, I knew how to make one thing: stir fry. Dad taught me that if you put chicken and vegetables in a pan with some soy sauce, then serve it over rice, it's a meal. I went to Poland with that knowledge last summer. I guess I should have been more prepared since I also went knowing that Philip, Thomas, and Nathan had almost no cooking knowledge between them.



I cooked dinner pretty much every night, so stir fry got old pretty fast. Also, stir fry was real difficult since we had no fridge, no cutting board, and no knife sharp enough to effectively cut raw chicken. As a result, my stir fry branched into three distinct recipes. The stir fry with rice remained. I figured out a sort of stir fried spaghetti with noodles. The third was a stir fry made from potatoes and sausage, served with green beans.



The potato stir fry varied a lot more than the other ones. And no matter what, it was always sort of the odd one out. After working on it quite a number of times this summer (most pivotally with Alec and Kjersti) I think it's turned in to what it wanted to be in the first place.

Ingredients:

7	Reasonably Sized Potatoes
1	Large Parsnip
4	Large Carrots
2	Onions (I prefer red for aesthetic reasons)
2 cups	Green Beans
2 cups	Leeks or Green Onions (chopped)
0.5 sticks	Butter
1.5 pounds	Spicy Italian Sausage (ground is best, chunks are acceptable)
2 cloves	Garlic
1	Red Bell Pepper (optional)
4 cups	Broth (I prefer vegetable bullion, the kind with sea salt)
	Salt
	Black Pepper
	Paprika
	Crushed Red Pepper

Note:
Have an array of bowls available. With this many ingredients organization is key, particularly if your counter space is limited.

Procedure:

Chop your vegetables to stew-friendly sizes. Details are up to you, though I prefer quarter medallions for my potatoes since thin pieces will cook faster. Since they cook at different rates (and hence will be added at different times), it's best to keep each species in its own bowl. Mince your garlic. Don't worry about the butter yet.

The two parts of the dish are addressed one after the other but can be completed at once, even by one person.

Part 1, Stirring and Frying
In a very large deep frying pan, start the sausage. Ideally you have chosen some sausage that will create abundant grease when cooked. If not, you may have to supplement it with oil. After the sausage is just about cooked, add half of the potatoes. Apply paprika, red pepper, and black pepper liberally. Salt may be added as well, in quantities that depend on the saltiness of the sausage.
Once the potatoes are getting there, add half of the parsnips. Soon afterwards add carrots and onions. I usually add garlic with the onions; however, some insist that they must be added earlier (to cook into the meat) or at the very end (to avoid burning).
Up until this point you don't really need to stir that frequently, and can in fact leave the top on the pan to get a nice steam room going to help your potatoes out. Beyond here you should be stirring often.
Eventually you will add the green beans and peppers as well, though they will cook much more quickly. Your goal is to keep a little crunch in the beans and carrots. Parsnips and potatoes should be quite soft.
Whenever the mood strikes you, add more paprika. The color will be key since the leeks will be overwhelmingly green.

Part 2, Boiling and Mashing
The remaining potatoes and parsnips, about half of each, should be boiled until they are absolutely demolished. The skin should be falling off of your potatoes if you so much as look at them. Drain the potatoes. Add the butter and enough broth to mash them, do so, then stir in the rest of the broth. Milk may be added for a creamier base, though I have not found the effect to be appreciable. Your potato broth concoction should be very fluid. Stir in the green onions.

Part 3, Mixing and Eating
Remember how I told you to use a big pan? I hope you listened. Pour the potato broth over your stir fry. Stir them together. Serve with bread. Ideally you have been drinking beer through the entire time of preparation. You should continue to do so as you eat.

Serves 8 generously.